“The resolution again proves the Human Rights Council is more interested in being against Israel than for objectivity,” said B’nai B’rith International President Moishe Smith. “How can an investigation that began with the very premise that Israel committed ‘war crimes’ have come to any other conclusion? When you start out with a conclusion in mind, it’s going to be impossible to deviate from it.”

Twenty-five nations voted in favor of the report, six voted against, and 11 abstained. B’nai B’rith praises those nations that voted against the report: the United States, Italy, the Netherlands, Hungary, Slovakia, and Ukraine. Israel does not sit on the on Human Rights Council.

The high number of abstentions indicates an acknowledgment that the report was unfair. Those abstaining nations should also be singled out: Bosnia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Belgium, South Korea, Slovenia, and Uruguay.

The rest of the nations making up the Human Rights Council did not vote.

The report placed the majority of the blame for rights abuses during the conflict on Israel, with only passing reference to the eight years of rocket and mortar attacks Hamas inflicted on Israel – some 10,000 attacks – that finally led Israel to its defensive moves. The Goldstone report glosses over Hamas’ use of human shields, and the purposeful endangering of its own civilian population by placing munitions in hospitals, mosques, and schools. Hamas’ actions ensured that Israel would not be able to entirely avoid the civilian population.

The Goldstone report reinforces the United Nations anti-Israel bias by glossing over Hamas’ relentless attacks on Israel. “The Human Rights Council’s capitulation to the pro-Palestinian bloc in bringing this to a resolution vote is shameful,” B’nai B’rith International Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin said. “The Human Rights Council continues to blatantly ignore the rights of Israelis to live in peace and security. By singling out Israel time and again, the council is proving its irrelevance.”

Consistent with the overt and singular bias that characterizes the acts of the Human Rights Council, this resolution only notes alleged Israeli misdeeds, ignoring the fact that the report itself charged Hamas with committing war crimes.

In Geneva on Oct. 16, B’nai B’rith said before the Council: “We are shocked to note a new low in the Human Rights Council’s short history. The Council was mandated to ensure ‘non-selectivity in the consideration of human rights issues, and the elimination of double standards and politicization.’ These principles were subscribed to by each and every delegation speaking during the formative year of the Council. However, we note that the Council has passed more resolutions condemning Israel than resolutions addressing all other countries combined. In addition, out of twelve special sessions, this is the sixth one dedicated to condemning Israel. Today’s session provides yet another illustration of the Council’s obsession with the Arab-Israeli conflict no matter that the very same issues were extensively addressed just a fortnight ago… As if that wasn't enough, we note with particular concern that this [special Council] session was convened not in response to a sudden event requiring the Council’s urgent attention, but rather to overcome an internal conflict within one of the principal parties [the Palestinians] connected with the Gaza operation. The conflict arose after that party had agreed to postpone action on the said report until next March. The Human Rights Council is mandated to ‘enhance dialogue and broaden understanding among civilizations.’ … We urge that the draft resolution before this body be rejected, lest it be added to the dustbin of similar one-sided resolutions.”

To read the full text of the B'nai B'rith address to the Human Rights Council, click here.

B’nai B’rith sent letters to members of the Human Rights Council in advance of the Oct. 16 vote. The letters noted: “In furthering the unparalleled, ritualistic singling out of Israel for condemnation and attack – just one party to one conflict, and a democracy that has uniquely shown capacity for restraint and compromise in the interest of peace – this resolution would be destructive in its prospective consequences for the standing of the Human Rights Council and the UN system generally, for the prospects of promoting stability and reconciliation in the Middle East, and for the possibility of vital and effective counterterrorism anywhere.”

Present at the United Nations since its inception, B’nai B’rith has worked tirelessly to combat anti-Israel bias at the world body.